American Motors: disc brakes, gentle slopes, disc brakes

Question
Hi,
I drive an automatic and sometimes, on gentle slopes, let the car just roll in neutral before I kick it into "drive" -- is it ok for me to do this? I have always wondered whether controlling the vehicle with brakes alone, propelled by the power of gravity, does any more or less damage to the discs than if it were in gear.

When travelling downhill in an automatic,  you controll the speed with the brakes anyway, so what's the difference?

I'm glad we have forums like this to ask questions, because I'd probably be too embarrassed to ask otherwise -- forgive my naivety!

look forward to your (chastising?) reply;-)

sincerely,
Mike.


I occassionally let a car roll on a gentle

Answer
shifting it into neutral is NOT a good idea. It defeats the ENGINE BRAKING system built within the transmission, You use up more brake pads in slowing the vehicle down.

zshift the vehicle into the next lower gear and let the transmission o the braking for you.



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